Aerial hoisting apparatus for use in balloon logging



y 1966 F. H. STEWART 3,249,237

AERIAL HOISTING APPARATUS FOR USE IN BALLOON LOGGING Filed March 31,1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTORNEYJ F. H. STEWART May 3, 1966AERIAL HOISTING APPARATUS FOR USE IN BALLOON LOGGING Filed March 51,1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS AERIAL HOISTING APPARATUS FOR USE INBALLOON LOGGING Faye H. Stewart, 2765 Fairmont Blvd., Eugene, Oreg.Filed Mar. 31, 1964, Ser. No. 356,251 2 Claims. (Cl. 212-89) Thisinvention relates to an improved system and an apparatus of logging forthe conveyance of logs and other materials particularly from the steepslopes of hills and valleys such as, for example, those of the hilly andmountainous regions of the States of the Pacific Northwhich can beemployed for the logging of areas where logging normally could only becarried on by road building which is exceedingly costly.

An additional object of this invention is to provide an improvedcarriage and cable system for hauling logs between a logging area and alog collecting area, wherein the carriage is supported by alighter-than-air balloon. The improved system utilizes a balloon forsupporting the carriage for movement between points in a logging area,and the carriage is constructed to receive a load lifting cable andcarriage moving cables which cooperate in a novel system for haulinglogs.

The foregoing objects and other objects of this invention will becomemore apparent in the following detailed description having reference tothe attached drawings wherein a preferred illustrative embodiment of theinvention is shown.'

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic elevational view of the novel loggingarrangement of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational ,view of the carriage of the arrangementshown in FIGURE 1 drawn to an enlarged scale;

United States Patent mountain without the use of roads. The balloonprovides .a major portion of-the vertical support for the loadedcarriage thus reducing the frictional load on the pulley rotatablymounted on the carriage and allowing the loaded carriage to be movedwith greater facility than has heretofore been possible.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, reference character 10designates a lightweight carriage supported by FIGURE 3 is a top planview partially broken away of the carriage shown in FIGURE 2; and-FIGURE 4 is a schematic elevational view similar to FIGURE 1 showing amodified form of the novel logging arrangement. I

One of the conventional logging systems today utilizes a spar treerigged with cables and the logs are dragged up or down the slope to thespar tree. In utilizing this system, the yarding distance is limited toabout 1,000 feet. If the slope extends beyond that distance, as forexample, up to a mile, then a series of roads must be built in so thatthe slope becomes accessible to men and machines over its entire area.Because of the usual rocky and rough condition of such slopes, roadbuilding is exceedingly costly, especially in consideration of thevolume of timber available or profitable to harvest. This systemgenerally is uneconomical and impractical to employ in many areas nowneeded to be harvested.

In the past others have proposed the feasibility of lifting or conveyingdiverse materials such as small buildings, irrigation pipe and the likefor instance as shown in U.S. Patents 1,876,153 and 2,789,009. Althoughit has been suggested that lighter-than-air' balloons mightadvantageously be used in a commercial logging operation, apparently nocommercially feasible system of this type has cable 12 connected to aballoon 14. A pulley 16 is rotatably mounted in the carriage 10.

As shown, the carriage 10 receives lines 18, 20, and 22 which controlthe movement of the carriage between spaced points such as between alanding area and a logging area, as will be discussed more hereinafter.

Line 20 is connected to line 18 by. means of a shays swivel 24, extendsover pulley 16, thence over logging tower 25 and on to a power drivencable winding drum 28. Line 18 extends upwardly from a power drivencable winding drum 30, over logging tower 25 and then over pulley 16.When line 20 is-reeled in, the shays swivel 24 bears against ferrules 21rotatably mounted on line 18 and coextensive therewith which in turnbear against a projection 23 formed in line 18 having a larger diameterthan the inside diameter of the ferrules to prevent the ferrules fromfurther movement longitudinally with respect to line 18. The purpose offerrules is to provide a bearing surface for the shays swivel 24 inorder that the shays swivel can freely rotate with respect to line 18and thus prevent lines 18 and 20 from becoming entangled. Haulback line22 extends from a power driven cable winding drum 27, through alight-weight four roller fairleader generally indicated at 29 and thento carriage 10 where it is attached. The purpose of using a four rollerfairleader is to prevent line 22 from fouling. Choker lines 32 areconnected to line 18 at the ground end by means of a choker ring 31.Line 18 is placed in position to pick up the load by hauling on line 20by the power driven cable winding drum 28, and slacking on line 18 bythe power driven cable winding drum 30. The carriage 10 is provided witha cavity 34 opening upwardly from the carriage and communicating withthe pulley receiving compartment 36. A spiral spring 38 is receivedwithin the cavity 34 and maintained under an adjustable amount ofcompression therein by a threaded closure plug 40 received in the upperportion of the cavity. At the lower end the spring 38 contracts a roller42 and by virtue of the compression force stored in the spring 38 theroller 42 is resiliently biased against line 18. The principal purposeof this arrangement is to insure that line 18 will move downwardlyfromthe carriage 10 when line 20 is reeled in.

The choker lines 32 are looped around logs 44 and the load is lifted byreeling in line 18 and slacking line 20. When the load is lifted, thenit is pulled towards the landing area by reeling in both lines 18 and 20by means of power driven cable winding drums- 28 and 30. Lines 18 and 20are reeled in simultaneously by means of any suitable inner lockingdevice on drums 28 and 30. When lines 18 and 20 are being reeled intowards the landing area, line 22 is slackened.

When carriage 10 has been drawn to the landing area, the logs 44v arereleased by slacking line 18 and reeling in line 20, and the carriage isthen ready to be returned to the logging area. The carriage 10 isreturned to the area to be logged by reeling in haulback line 22 bymeans of power driven cable winding drum 27. When the carriage 10 isbeing drawn up to the logging area, lines 18 and 20 are simultaneouslyslackened. As carriage 10 approaches fairleader 29 it is pulled down andheld by line 22 so that the operation of slacking line 18 and reeling inline 20 will place line 18 in position for picking up another load oflogs with choker lines 32. Pairleader 29 is attached to a fixed object,such as a well rooted stump or tree to enable it to Withstand thevertical -lift of the balloon 14, thereby exercising restrainingcontrol.

By means of power driven cable drums 27,28 and 30 and controls, thedirection and rate of travel of the carriage 10 can be controlled. Cablewinding drums 28 and 30 are mounted on the bed of a suitable conveyancemechanism 46 together with their driving mechanism. Power driven cabledrum 27 is placed at the furthest logging area away from the landingarea. The drums 27, 28 and 30 are preferably electrically powered andmay be radio-remotely or electrically-remotely controlled by operatorslocated at the logging are-a and landing area.

In operation, the carriage 10 is lifted to a suitable height by thelighter-than-air balloon 14 and hauled out by haulback line 22 to thepoint where the logs are to be picked up. Line 18 is slacked out to acrew on the ground and choker lines 32 are looped around one end of thelogs 44. Line 18 is then reeled in by winding drum 30 as line 20 isslacked so as to raise the ends of the logs 44 clear of the ground. Thelines 18 and 20 are then drawn in simultaneously by means of an innerlocking device on drums 28 and 30 while line 22 is slackened. When thelogs 44 reach the landing or collecting area behind the conveyancemechanism 46, they are released in this area and the carriage 10 is thenreturned to the logging area by haulback line 22.

A modified form of the novel logging system is shown in FIGURE 4. Thissystem is identical to the operation as shown in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3except that the power driven cable winding drum 27 for reeling inhaulback line 22 is placed on the bed of conveyance mechanism 46 locatednear logging tower 25. In this arrangement haulback line 22 extendsupwardly from power driven cable winding drum 27, over the top oflogging tower 25, through fairleader 48 and 50 and then to carriage 10where it is attached.

Although any balloon may be used to lift and suspend the carriage 10,the preferred balloon is the so-called Vee- Balloon as described in thepublication of Goodyear Aerospace Corporation, GER-11082, dated August1, 1963. The over-all shape of the Vee-B alloon is an isosceles trianglewherein the legs of the triangle consist of large diametersausage-shaped balloon members provided with downwardly projectingrudders attached to the lower trailing edge of each member and the baseof the triangle consisting of a generally horizontal inflated member.This balloon is preferred because of the following advantages overconventional barrage and spherical balloons: (1) high lift-to-drag ratio(over 3) at low angles of attack, (2) more nearly vertical tether cableunder wind loads, (3) very good directional stability, (4) highaltitudes when used in tandem, smaller height and length dimensions thanfor airship-shaped balloon of equal volume, (6) small vertical tailsurfaces, and relatively easy handling and launching. Of theseadvantages, probably. the most important is that the tether cable ismore nearly vertical under wind loads.

It will thus be seen that there has been provided by this invention amethod and apparatus in which the various objects hereinbefore setforth, together with many practical advantages, are successfullyachieved. As various possible embodiments may be made of the novelfeatures of the above invention, all without departing from the scopethereof, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forthis to be interpreted as illustrative, and not in a limiting ,sense.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In a logging system having a lighter-than-air balloon supporting acarriage for movement between a logging area and a log collecting area,the improvement in said carriage comprising:

means for connecting said balloon to said carriage for supporting thecarriage in working positions above said logging area and said logcollecting area,

a first sheave means mounted in said carriage for receiving a loadliftingcable, said load lifting cable having a first end connectable toa load of logs and a second end connectedto a first powered winch,

a second sheave means mounted in said carriage for receiving a carriagemoving :ca-ble, said second sheave means being connectedto said firstsheave means'for rotation therewith, and said carriage moving cablehaving a first end connected to said load lifting cable at a pointintermediate to said first powered winch and said carriage, and saidcarriage moving cable having a second end connected to a second poweredwinch with an intermediate portion of said carriage moving cable beingreceived around said second sheave means, whereby said carriage movingcable rotates both the second and the first sheave means in a directionwhich lowers said load lifting cable for picking up a load when saidcarriage moving cable is wound up on said second power winch while saidload lifting cable is being unwound from said first power winch, and

means on said carriage for connecting a haulback cable to the carriagefor moving said carriage in a direction opposite to .the direction ofmovement obtained from simultaneously winding said load lifting cableand said carriage moving cable on said first and second power winchmeans, said haul-back cable having an end attached to a third powerwinch means for winding and unwinding.

2. The improvement of claim 1 and including a cable engaging meanscarried by said carriage for frictionally contacting said load liftingcable at a point adjacent to said first sheave means, whereby said loadlifting cable is held in tight engagement with said first sheave meansfor movement therewith when said first sheave means is rotated by themovement of said carriage moving cable over the second sheave means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCESGiant Balloons M-ay Change Course of Logging Industry, vol. 23, No. 6,The Wingfoot Clan: Goodyear Aerospace Corp, March 12, 1964.

EVON C. BLUNK, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Examiner.

A. L, LEV NE, Assistant Exam ner.

